Subtitles and Transcript

Henry Evans and Chad Jenkins

0:11
Sarge Salman: All the way from
Los Altos Hills, California,Mr. Henry Evans.

0:16
(Applause)

0:31
Henry Evans: Hello.My name is Henry Evans,and until August 29, 2002,I was living my version of the American dream.I grew up in a typical American town near St. Louis.My dad was a lawyer.My mom was a homemaker.My six siblings and I were good kids,but caused our fair share of trouble.After high school, I left home to studyand learn more about the world.I went to Notre Dame Universityand graduated with degrees
in accounting and German,including spending a year of study in Austria.Later on, I earned an MBA at Stanford.I married my high school sweetheart, Jane.I am lucky to have her.Together, we raised four wonderful children.I worked and studied hard
to move up the career ladder,eventually becoming a chief financial officerin Silicon Valley, a job I really enjoyed.My family and I bought our first and only homeon December 13, 2001,a fixer-upper in a beautiful spotof Los Altos Hills, California,from where I am speaking to you now.

1:53
We were looking forward to rebuilding it,but eight months after we moved in,I suffered a stroke-like attack
caused by a birth defect.Overnight, I became a mute quadriplegicat the ripe old age of 40.It took me several years,but with the help of an incredibly supportive family,I finally decided life was still worth living.I became fascinated with using technologyto help the severely disabled.Head tracking devices sold commerciallyby the company Madentecconvert my tiny head movements
into cursor movements,and enable my use of a regular computer.I can surf the web, exchange email with people,and routinely destroy my friend Steve Cousinsin online word games.This technology allows me to remain engaged,mentally active,and feel like I am a part of the world.

2:58
One day, I was lying in bed watching CNN,when I was amazed by Professor Charlie Kempof the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Techdemonstrating a PR2 robot.I emailed Charlie and
Steve Cousins of Willow Garage,and we formed the Robots for Humanity project.For about two years, Robots for Humanitydeveloped ways for me to use the PR2as my body surrogate.I shaved myself for the first time in 10 years.From my home in California,I shaved Charlie in Atlanta. (Laughter)I handed out Halloween candy.I opened my refrigerator on my own.I began doing tasks around the house.I saw new and previously unthinkable possibilitiesto live and contribute,both for myself and others in my circumstance.

4:04
All of us have disabilities in one form or another.For example, if either of us
wants to go 60 miles an hour,both of us will need an assistive device called a car.Your disability doesn't make you
any less of a person,and neither does mine.By the way, check out my sweet ride. (Laughter)Since birth, we have both suffered from the inabilityto fly on our own.

4:35
Last year, Kaijen Hsiao of Willow Garageconnected with me Chad Jenkins.Chad showed me how easy it isto purchase and fly aerial drones.It was then I realized that I could also usean aerial drone to expand the worldsof bedridden people through flight,giving a sense of movement and controlthat is incredible.Using a mouse cursor I control with my head,these web interfaces allow meto see video from the robotand send control commandsby pressing buttons in a web browser.With a little practice, I became
good enough with this interfaceto drive around my home on my own.I could look around our gardenand see the grapes we are growing.I inspected the solar panels on our roof. (Laughter)One of my challenges as a pilot is to land the droneon our basketball hoop.I went even further by seeing if I could usea head-mounted display, the Oculus Rift,as modified by Fighting Walrus,to have an immersive experiencecontrolling the drone.With Chad's group at Brown,I regularly fly drones around his labseveral times a week,
from my home 3,000 miles away.All work and no fun makes for a dull quadriplegic,so we also find time to play friendly gamesof robot soccer. (Laughter)I never thought I would be able to casuallymove around a campus like Brown on my own.I just wish I could afford the tuition. (Laughter)

6:35
Chad Jenkins: Henry, all joking aside,I bet all of these people herewould love to see you fly this dronefrom your bed in California 3,000 miles away.

6:45
(Applause)

6:56
Okay, Henry, have you been to D.C. lately?

7:00
(Laughter)

7:03
Are you excited to be at TEDxMidAtlantic?

7:07
(Laughter) (Applause)

7:14
Can you show us how excited you are?

7:17
(Laughter)

7:22
All right, big finish.Can you show us how good of a pilot you are?

7:28
(Applause)

7:33
All right, we still have a little ways to go with that,but I think it shows the promise.

7:38
What makes Henry's story amazingis it's about understanding Henry's needs,understanding what people in Henry's situationneed from technology,and then also understandingwhat advanced technology can provide,and then bringing those two things togetherfor use in a wise and responsible way.What we're trying to do is democratize robotics,so that anybody can be a part of this.We're providing affordable,
off-the-shelf robot platformssuch as the A.R. drone, 300 dollars,the Suitable Technologies beam,
only 17,000 dollars,along with open-source robotics softwareso that you can be a part of what we're trying to do.And our hope is that, by providing these tools,that you'll be able to think of better waysto provide movement for the disabled,to provide care for our aging population,to help better educate our children,to think about what the new typesof middle class jobs could be for the future,to both monitor and protect our environment,and to explore the universe.

8:37
Back to you, Henry.

8:41
HE: Thank you, Chad.

8:44
With this drone setup, we show the potentialfor bedridden people to once again be ableto explore the outside world,and robotics will eventually providea level playing fieldwhere one is only limited by their mental acuityand imagination,where the disabled are able to performthe same activities as everyone else,and perhaps better,and technology will even allow us to providean outlet for many people who are presentlyconsidered vegetables.One hundred years ago,I would have been treated like a vegetable.Actually, that's not true.I would have died.

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It is up to us, all of us, to decide howrobotics will be used, for good or for evil,for simply replacing peopleor for making people better,for allowing us to do and enjoy more.

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Our goal for robotics is to
unlock everyone's mental powerby making the world more physically accessibleto people such as myself and others like mearound the globe.With the help of people like you,we can make this dream a reality.